


In This Place (Always)

by Clearpearls



Category: Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Amnesia, Angst, Car Accidents, Fluff, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-13
Updated: 2017-11-13
Packaged: 2019-02-01 17:51:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12709932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clearpearls/pseuds/Clearpearls
Summary: Daniel's eyes speak of a thousand memories as he looks at Seongwoo, and Seongwoo wants to whine, to tear his hair out, because he can't remember even a single one of them.(or: Seongwoo is in a car accident and loses his memory of both Wanna One and Daniel.)





	In This Place (Always)

  
Snow begins to cover the ground outside as Daniel idly scrolls through the news on his phone. His thumb stutters over the glass, and a headline greets him: 'Former Wanna One Member Ong Seongwoo in Car Accident'.

  
Daniel drops the phone, and it lands on the floor as a singular thought rushes through his mind.

  
_No._

\---

  
Seongwoo can hear a distant ringing. It's probably his alarm, like always. He wishes the thing would just shut itself up sometimes; he hates waking to its shrill cry.

  
Blearily, he blinks open his eyes. He's not in his room. White walls surround him, and an IV is embedded in his arm. A monitor beeps beside him. Seongwoo tries to move his head, and sharp pain bursts through his skull. He lets out a whimper.

  
Fabric rustles, and then a man presses his face in front of Seongwoo. "Are you awake?" he asks.

  
"Barely," Seongwoo answers.

  
"That's good. That's really good," the man says.

  
Seongwoo tries to concentrate on the man's features. His eyes roam across brown eyes, a nose, and a pair of glasses, but he can't seem to place who the man is.

  
Seongwoo decides to speak up. "Excuse me, but who are you?"

  
The man's eyes widen. "Seongwoo, I'm your manager, remember? I've worked with you for a year."

  
What? "That's impossible. I'm only a trainee. Why would I need a manager?"

  
His "manager's" eyebrows knit together. "You haven't been a trainee in two years. Stop trying to mess with me."

  
Seongwoo is sweating. "This isn't a joke. How can you be my manager when I've never even seen you before in my life?" Seongwoo's hands grip his sheets.

  
The man's mouth drops open. He rises, and then walks out the door as pale as a ghost. "I'm going to find your doctor."

  
\---

  
"It's retrograde amnesia."

  
"What." Seongwoo's mouth feels lined with cotton.

  
His doctor looks at him with pity, gripping his clipboard to his chest. "You've lost all memory of the past three years. With luck, it may eventually resurface, but amnesia is a real question mark, so there is no way to completely be sure."

  
Strangely, a tear drops down his manager's face at these words. What on earth did he do in the past three years that was special enough to make a grown man cry?

  
"They're going to be devastated. Daniel especially," Seongwoo thinks he hears his manager murmur under his breath. Who is 'Daniel'?

  
"Is there anything I can do to help myself remember?" Seongwoo asks.

  
The doctor sighs. "Well, I would recommend close contact with anyone you were close with during the three years you are now missing. Being with them might trigger lost memories. However, before that, I recommend rest. You were in a car accident. Your body itself has not quite healed."

  
His manager nods along. "We'll suspend his activities indefinitely until he recovers."

  
Seongwoo blinks slowly, feeling like a black ocean is swallowing him up.

  
\---

He rests for a few days in the hospital, and then his manager drives him to his apartment. His manager doesn't want to burden Seongwoo, so he decides not to attempt to recount the past three years just yet. He sticks to the small things.  
Seongwoo learns that he now lives in a small apartment, all alone. The furniture is warm and comfortable, just like he likes it, so he thinks that this Seongwoo's taste isn't too far off from his own. Seongwoo sits down on the couch with a quiet thump. In front of him, a large, framed photograph rests above the television.

  
He rises and pads over to the photo. Peering closely, he sees 11 boys with their arms linked around one another. Seongwoo notices himself in the picture, smiling brightly, and his heart stutters. His eyes flit over the other boys. A boy with light brown hair rests his head on Seongwoo's shoulder in the picture. Who are these people? Why does he have a giant framed picture of them with him inside his house?

  
Seongwoo reaches up to touch the glass, fingers shaking. The doorbell rings, jerking Seongwoo out of his dazed state.

  
"Yes?" he calls.

  
Seongwoo opens the door, and a man he has never seen before grins widely, sighing and throwing his arms around him. Seongwoo stiffens. The man pulls away, breathing heavily. "I was so worried about you," the man says, sincere gaze locked upon Seongwoo.

  
Seongwoo's breath catches in his throat at the intensity. He looks at the man properly; his hair is an ashy brown, he has a small mole near his eye, and he is wearing a large, red flannel shirt. Seongwoo does not remember him, and he feels terrible.

  
Shakily, Seongwoo whispers, "Who are you?"

  
The man's smile abruptly falls, and he blinks rapidly.

  
"Look, I know I dyed my hair again, but you can't keep teasing me about it," the man says.

  
Seongwoo wants to hide. "I'm not teasing."

  
The man tilts his head. "What?"

  
Seongwoo steels himself. "I don't know who you are."

  
The man grips Seongwoo's shoulders tightly, almost panicked, voice rising. "Seongwoo. It's me, Daniel," he murmurs, eyes pleading.

  
Daniel. He feels like he has heard that name before. "I'm sorry, but I don't know you. The doctor told me I have amnesia. I can't remember the last three years."

  
Daniel lets out a pained noise, eyes flicking to Seongwoo, perhaps hoping for recognition and finding nothing. "You're serious," he finally admits, letting go of Seongwoo's shoulders and staring down at the floor.

  
"Come in," Seongwoo offers. Daniel's head immediately lifts, eager. "I'll attempt to explain."

  
Seongwoo turns around, walking into his apartment. Daniel follows.

  
\---

  
Daniel sits down on his couch and folds into himself, head falling into his hands. Seongwoo's stomach twists, and he leaves Daniel to himself for a few minutes, walking into the kitchen to find a snack for the two of them.

  
Seongwoo digs through his cabinets, eventually fishing out a small box of biscuits. His face is plastered on the front. Wow. Exactly how famous was he?

  
Carrying the box back to the sofa, Seongwoo sets it down in front of Daniel. "Have a snack, please," he pleads.

  
Daniel looks up at him, eyes glistening with water. He notices the biscuits, and then a single tear falls down his cheek.

  
"Oh, I'm such a fool," Daniel mutters. "I never cry."

  
"It's okay," Seongwoo assures him.

  
Daniel wipes his eyes roughly. "I remember that photoshoot. You were so excited that your face was going to be on food."

  
"You were there?"

  
"Of course, Seongwoo. We were in the same group." Daniel points behind him, to the picture.

  
As if possessed, Seongwoo's feet lead him to the frame yet again. He looks closely, scouring over every face, and sure enough, there is Daniel, head resting upon Seongwoo's shoulder.

  
"That was the cover for our last album." Daniel has quietly slipped behind him.

  
"When was that?" Seongwoo asks, still staring at the smiling faces in the picture.

  
"December 2018."

  
Seongwoo's breath catches. "That was almost a year ago, then."

  
"Yes."

  
"When did you join the company? And why did we disband already?"

  
Daniel swallows and looks up at the ceiling pensively. "It's difficult to explain. I was never in your company, Seongwoo. We were in a project group with other trainees from different companies."

  
Seongwoo wishes that Daniel would not say his name so familiarly. It makes his heart hurt. "A project group?" Seongwoo repeats.

  
"Yes," Daniel replies. "It was formed by a reality show called Produce 101. Maybe you remember the first season."

  
Surprisingly, Seongwoo does remember the first season. 101 girls had been whittled down to 11, and two girls from his company had been chosen for the final group.

  
"I do remember."

  
Daniel's eyes look a little brighter, hearing that.

  
"What was our group's name, then?" Seongwoo asks.

  
Daniel lets out a small sigh. "It was Wanna One. We were a part of it, together." 

 

Daniel's eyes speak of a thousand memories as he looks at Seongwoo, and Seongwoo wants to whine, to tear his hair out, because he can't remember even a single one of them.


End file.
